Back to Baltimore

Man, I did not realize how badly I needed a night like last night.

It's been a slow process, rebuilding my world over the past year or so both emotionally and financially, and I still have more hills to climb before I'm truly at ease again in either aspect of my life. Hey, it took a nearly five-year tumble to create the rubble I'm climbing out of, it's going to take some time to rebuild as well.

One of the things that has been sorely missing in my world is live music. Hadn't gone to stand in front of a band since seeing Freezepop and Lifestyle in Philly over a year ago, and I missed the live band experience. It's as if a part of my soul wasn't being properly nourished. I had the chance to go see one of my favorites, One-Eyed Doll, in Allentown a couple weeks back, but those plans fell through at the last minute. When I saw that Peelander-Z was going to be at The Ottobar in Baltimore, I knew I had to be there! Still, I almost backed out at the last minute, not sure if I could (or should) afford the evening. Only $15 to get in, sure, but figure grabbing dinner somewhere and having a few beers at the show, possibly a purchase from the merch table, and it starts to add up when you're on a tight budget. Bless my brother, he basically said "don't worry about it, we're going!"

Four bands played last night; two of them I was very psyched to see again: Peelander-Z, of course, I had been blown away by when I saw them in Washington DC in early 2012 with One-Eyed Doll - a show which ranks among the flat-out best top-to-bottom live shows I've ever seen (neither are bands you just stand in front of - both are big on audience interaction and participation). Also, a local Baltimore band, Plurals, was on the lineup. I have raved about them since seeing them open for Shonen Knife the last time I was in Baltimore. So, I went in figuring even if the other two bands weren't any good, the night would still be fun.

I've mentioned before that there is a really cool scene happening in Baltimore lately. That was underscored again last night when the first band, Natural Velvet, took the stage. Fronted by bassist/vocalist Corynne Ostermann, they are a moody four-piece post-punk outfit relying heavily on reverb and echoey, distant vocals. They are also fan-frickin'-tastic. Ostermann gives off a coy Hope Sandoval vibe while guitarists Spike Arreaga and Kim Te scratch and slash, creating an ethereal yet agitated wall of sound. They've got an EP up on Bandcamp - check it out. As first bands go, they are one of the better I've seen.

Plurals were simply outstanding. I am a big fan of their modern take on an old-school new-wave sound, from Rachel Warren and Elena Fox providing the faux B-52's harmonies to Michael Bowen's Mark Mothersbaugh-meets-Frank Black lead vocals, combined with angular guitars and plinka-plinka keyboards, they've got the sound circa 1980 down without making it feel dated. Played some favorites including "Manic Depressor," "Mental Illness/Sooner Or Later," and "Clap Clap" (all of which can be found on their excellent Laced With Boniva EP, another Bandcamp offering which you must hear!), along with some I hadn't heard before: about mid-set, Warren took over lead vocals for "Look At The Nerds," seeming to channel both Nina Hagen and Klaus Nomi simultaneously. Simply put, Plurals are one of my current favorites - just wish there was more recorded stuff out there! (Hint, hint...)

I'm not exactly how best to word my reaction to Christopher Nobody & The Nothing. Don't get me wrong, they were quite good, but there was something just a bit off to my ears. My brother drew a comparison immediately to bands like Saccharine Trust which, while not exactly hitting the target, is pretty good jumping off point to describe them. Christopher Nobody shout/sings neurotic, hiccuppy songs while lurching about the stage, occasionally throwing himself bodily to the floor and occasionally stalking out into the crowd. The band was solid, loud and noisy - just the right accompaniment for songs like "I Love My Executioner" and "Sick Sick Sick." But I think somehow I liked the concept behind what they were doing better than the execution. Again, I liked their set and would gladly see them play again - maybe in a different context I'd be more in sync with their performance.

Speaking of not knowing how to describe a band - I've now seen the mighty Peelander-Z twice and am still not able to describe exactly what I've seen...or experienced. You do not simply stand and watch Peelander-Z. You can't. They refuse to let you. You become part of the show, whether you're one of those chosen to come up on stage to take over instruments for the band or don a foam rhino head and pound out a beat on a tom-tom or you're simply part of a crowd-wide limbo contest or circular conga line. Before the night was out, we had been part of a drum circle, watched a human bowling match, and pounded with sticks on pie tins. This old man tends to stay out of the mosh pits these days, content to stay on the edge and help rebound folks back into the fray, but when a Peelander-Z mosh pit breaks out, you can't not be a part of it - it engulfs everyone, and everyone is having a great time. They opened at breakneck speed with "So Many Mike," and tore through crowd faves like "Mad Tiger," "Taco Taco Taco," and "Ninja High School" before ending with the standard show-closing cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." If you've never experienced Peelander-Z before, do yourself a favor and go see them. They are much fun.

As I said, I really needed that night. It may be awhile again until the next live show I see, but if I only get to one this year, I do believe I chose the right one.

More pics from the show will be up on the That's What I Was Going To Say Facebook page later on tonight - please stop by and, if you haven't already, "like" the page so you don't miss out on any of the fun stuff coming up on the blog!

Beating the Summer Heat with Freezepop

After experiencing the first official heat wave of the summer around these parts, I was happy the temperature (and more so, the humidity!) broke somewhat this weekend. That pleasant change in weather came just in time for a Saturday night in Philadelphia that turned out to be one of the coolest nights in a long time - as measured on the fun meter, not the thermometer.

As advertised a few weeks back on this blog, Saturday night saw Boston-based electronic band Freezepop headline a three-band show at Kung Fu Necktie on North Front Street in Philly.  This was my first Philly show in a little over two years, since seeing Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School of Medicine at The Trocadero in March of 2010, and it put Philly right back on my musical radar map after it had been bumped off by Baltimore, MD, as the place to go.

A lot of that had to do with my official tour guide for the evening.  Sue and I have been friends since high school, but fell out of touch as people do over time when Life takes you different directions.  Facebook reconnected us, at least in the online universe, us a couple years back, and we've kept trying to find the time to get together and see each other after 15+ years.  Something always seemed to come up - work, family, whatever.  As soon as I first started talking about the Freezepop show on Facebook, Sue and I started planning our mini-reunion - this time, no excuses!  There are friends you have who, if you reunite after a long absence, you find much to your chagrin you no longer have much in common.  But there are those special Friends-with-a-capital-F who you can go for years without seeing, but when you finally have the chance it's just as if no time had passed.  Sue is definitely a "capital F" Friend, and I was so glad to get to see her again.

When my brother Marc and I got into Philly, our first order of business was finding eats.  On Sue's advice we wound up at Johnny Brenda's, a hip little brewpub on the corner of Frankford and Girard.  Good beer and good food (I had the best Cubano sandwich I've had in quite awhile!) at decent prices - can't beat it.  Shortly after we finished eating, Sue met up with us and, after a bit of catching up with each other, it was off to the evening's venue.

Kung Fu Necktie turns out to be a tiny little place on a corner in a basically residential neighborhood: bar in the front, stage in the back, maybe capable of holding 150 - 200 people all told. There is, apparently, an upstairs area with video games and pool tables, which Sue and Marc discovered, and there is a downstairs which serves as a backstage area/dressing room for the bands.  The staff is friendly and the drinks are served up quickly, and even when the place reached full crowd level for the evening we never felt packed in like sardines like you can at some shows.  Live music has an 11:00 PM curfew there because of the neighborhood (a DJ takes over until 2:00 AM), and on this night doors opened at 8:00 PM for a three-band show.  Three bands in three hours meant shorter sets, but that probably worked in Freezepop founding member Sean Drinkwater's favor given that he pulled double duty, singing lead with his other band, Lifestyle, as one of the opening acts.  He was exhausted (but happily so) by the end of the night.

When we got there, the first band, a local electronic duo called Crozet (there is an interesting story on how they came to be named after a group of islands in the Indian Ocean), had just taken the stage. We took seats at the bar to continue our "how have the last 15 years treated you" conversations, and Crozet's swooping, swirling, almost ethereal music provided a fine background. Think of the sort of lush, ambient, keyboard-based soundtrack music you heard in every mid-to-late eighties teen angst movie, and you'll have a pretty good idea of Crozet's sound.

Lifestyle was up next, and  that was our cue to find our spots up front, stage center.  Our time machine to the '80s revved into high gear as Lifestyle's nine-song set had the band sounding at times like prime-era Simple Minds, Human League, early Pulp, and a little bit of ABC.  They were simply fantastic.  Their between-song goofing indicated a band at ease and having fun, but the music was tight, on point, and excellent. Despite Lifestyle predating Freezepop, a fact I did not know until talking with Sean that night, there are unfortunately no proper Lifestyle releases available for purchase.  However, a trip to their website will be rewarded with almost two CDs worth of material: an online LP and a series of demo recordings.  Go and get them; your ears will thank you.  And don't forget to donate a little something to Lifestyle for providing those tunes; Sean will thank you.

Finally, Freezepop took the stage, opening with "Harebrained Scheme," and launching into an outstanding set that combined classic early Freezepop like "Parlez-Vous Freezepop" and "Stakeout" with more recent vintage material, including "Doppleganger" and a killer run-through of "Brainpower."  I was honored when they played a song I had personally requested, their wonderful "Science Genius Girl," allowing me to check off another item on my live band bucket list: the first time a band has ever mentioned me by name onstage.  (Thank you again, Freezepop!)  Through it all, they had the crowd dancing and singing along.  At one point, Liz Enthusiasm and Christmas Disco-Marie Sagan challenged the crowd to jazzercise, and then demonstrated proper technique.

Of course, they weren't getting away without an encore.  They came back onstage to play "Special Effects," and then - after checking that they had time for one more song - asked what everyone wanted to hear.  Naturally, the cry went up for their anthemic "Less Talk More Rokk," but Sean dismissed that request, saying that it was "too complicated - pick something easier to play."  Someone in the crowd yelled out "Hot Cross Buns" (presumably meaning the childhood rhyme), which caused John "Bananas" Foster to grab his keytar and intro "our newest song, 'Hot Cross Buns!'" followed by a hysterical "come on guys" look while the rest of the band stood motionless.  Finally, it was revealed that Sean's refusal of "Less Talk More Rokk" was all a ruse, and they launched into a truly fantastic performance of the song, complete with Drinkwater taking his keytar and jumping into the crowd in full-on rockstar mode, and Liz Enthusiasm following suit to dance with the crowd.  It was a great, great show.

All four members of Freezepop then hung out in the bar area, being very gracious to those of us who bombarded them with requests for signatures and pictures, clearly enjoying the interaction with their fans.  All four were very easy to talk with and eager to say hello.  I know I say this constantly in my posts, but it so nice to be able to see a band who is so connected to their fan base, and so willing to interact both in performance and afterward.  This old punk really loves seeing the current crop of bands who are embracing that sort of grassroots approach.

This show was part of weekend mini-tour in celebration of Liz Enthusiasm's birthday - I hope she had as much fun celebrating as we all did seeing her and her band perform! As always, more pics will up on the That's What I Was Going To Say Facebook page.

Freezepop Is Coming To Philly!

I am very psyched that Boston-based electronic/synthpop band Freezepop is including Philadelphia in their weekend-long three-stop mini-tour celebrating founding member Liz Enthusiasm's birthday this month!  Even cooler, the opening act is Lifestyle, a band that features Freezepop's own The Other Sean T. Drinkwater. So, it's almost like Freezepop opening for Freezepop...or something...

The mini-tour begins Friday, June 22, in Brooklyn, NY and ends Sunday, June 24, in Rochester, NY, but those are just a bit outside my travel radius.  But on Saturday night, June 23, they'll be playing at Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia - less then two hours from my front door!

This will be my first chance to see Freezepop live, though I've been a fan since first hearing "Science Genius Girl" almost ten years ago (where does the time go?)  For those of you unfamiliar with the band, they started out as a trio: Liz Enthusiasm, The Other Sean T. Drinkwater, and The Duke of Pannekoeken started plinking away at synths and other electronica in 1999.  Sounding something like a 1980's video arcade set to a dance beat, the band quickly demonstrated a skewering wit in their lyrics and an uncanny ability to transport listeners back to early-80s New Wave sounds.  They sang about love in a shopping mall ("Chess King"), being a contestant on Wheel Of Fortune ("Shark Attack"), and celeb crushes ("Tracey Gold").

As they progressed, their sound filled out from plinky electronic minimalism to full-bodied synthpop, without losing any of the song quality, creativity, or humor that made them so awesome.  "Less Talk More Rokk" became one of their best-known songs after appearing in the video game Guitar Hero; it still remains one of my favorites.

In 2009, The Duke of Pannekoeken left the band and was replaced by Robert John "Bananas" Foster and Christmas Disco-Marie Sagan.  This quartet remains the band's current lineup, and delivered the album Imaginary Friends, which made this blog's Records of the Year list this past December.

If you are in the Philly area or can be there, I urge you to come out for this show!  It promises to be a bunch of fun, and advance tickets can be had for only $10!  Here are a few clips to give you a sense of Freezepop's joyful noise; if you like what you hear, you need to be in Philly on the 23rd.  See you there!

What A Show!

Finally have a chance to sit down and share with you Sunday night's fun in Washington DC.  A venue I'd never been to before, one band I have become an absolute fanatic of, and one band whose material I'm just getting to know but am being blown away by - those are ingredients for a fun evening, and that's exactly what I got!

In my many years of seeing shows, I had never before actually seen the same band twice in a row.  The closest I had come was in 2010, catching Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine on a Friday night in Philly and a Sunday night in Baltimore of the same weekend, but that Saturday night I had seen Gorevette and The Donnas. What a weekend that was!  Well, check back-to-back shows by the same band off my bucket list, and the honors go to One-Eyed Doll (natch, if you've been paying attention lately)!  My last live show was One-Eyed Doll and Orgy in Baltimore last month; this weekend, I was lucky enough to see the dynamic Doll duo again, this time playing with the simply astounding Peelander-Z in DC at a cool little hole-in-the-wall called DC9.

My brother and I headed south early for the show, knowing we had a little over a two-hour drive and wanting to leave enough time to find the club, grab something to eat, and give ourselves enough of a buffer for unforeseen traffic issues (that 695 beltway can be a beast at times, even on weekends).  As it turned out, we pulled into DC with almost two hours to spare, and quickly found the block where DC9 is located, or should I say "hidden."  We circled the block at least five times, knowing that we had to be in the right place because we spotted Kimberly and Junior from One-Eyed Doll busily unloading their equipment.  Finally we located the club - a tiny, nondescript storefront tucked in among other businesses on 9th Street.  A few more circuits around the neighborhood helped us find parking, and we decided to just set up camp at DC9 for beers and burgers before the show.

When I describe DC9 as a "hole in the wall," I mean it in the best sense.  It doesn't look like much at first - in fact, with its dark interior and minimal signage, it almost looked like it was closed.  Right inside the street-level opening is a bar; on past it were about half a dozen old vinyl-upholstered booths.  The place looked straight out of the 1960s - there was even a working old-style cigarette vending machine (the kind where you pulled out the knob for the brand you wanted, for those old enough to remember when those machines were standard issue in bars and restaurants.)  My brother and I pulled up seats at the bar and enjoyed some really good sandwiches, fries, and fried pickles - a first for me.  There were two more levels to the place.  Our bartender, Jessica, told us the bands would be on the second floor, which she said was rated to hold up to 200 people (more about that later); there is also a roof-level deck, which we headed up to just before the show.  A nice enough place - I've certainly seen shows in less well-kept establishments!

At the point they opened the doors to the second floor for the show, my brother and I were two of four people waiting.  Junior had come out to say hello, and joked that "if it's just going to be the four of you, you'll get a great all-request show. We just need you to create a mosh pit in front of the stage." 
As it turned out, it was a small crowd.  I did a quick head-count at one point and there were about 30 people, but sometimes those smaller crowds lend themselves to better shows.  In the case of One-Eyed Doll, it really allowed Kimberly to interact with everyone throughout the set:  bringing one person on stage to sing "You're A Vampire" to him, dressing two more in costume for "Fight," having us vote for which song we wanted to hear by doing an odd running-in-place dance, and spinning us around to stare at the sound guy while she "surreptitiously" made an on-stage costume change (Kimberly: "La la la, nothing going on back here, keep looking at the sound guy, la la la...").  Throughout their set, she spent as much time in the crowd as she did on the small corner stage, and she seemed energized by the interaction.  Other than doing the standard opening with "Committed," we got a completely different set than we did in Baltimore a month ago.  One-Eyed Doll continue to simply amaze. 

Now, I am going to try to describe Peelander-Z to you.  If you are familiar with the Japanese "Action Comic Punk Band," you already know what I mean when I say I will try to describe them: their show simply has to be seen - er, experienced - and even then you're left bewildered.  But, you're also left smiling, exhausted, and wanting more.  You want insanely catchy high-energy music?  They deliver that in bulk.  Sunday night they stormed through Peelander-Z standards like "So Many Mike," "Taco Taco Tacos," "Get The Glasses," and "S.T.E.A.K." at top speed, never missing a beat.  You want costumes?  They took the stage in Rezillos-esque space suits; band members and associates appeared dressed as masked Mexican wrestlers, giant squid-like monsters, and bowling pins.  You want crowd participation?  They had the entire crowd - literally every last one of us - take part in a massive simultaneous limbo beneath a rope held by people in tiger masks; they handed tin bowls and sticks to random fans to keep rhythm; the guitarist walked across the crowd's hands from the stage to the bar on the other side of the room and back; there were sudden baseball and bowling games; there was great celebration of those who, like me, were wearing glasses.  At one point, they pulled people up on the stage to take over for band members on guitar, bass and drums.  Then they wrapped up the whole night with an utterly unexpected but wonderful cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

30 people (by the end of the night the number had grown to maybe 60-65) may sound like a low turnout, but honestly the second floor was not huge. Had there been many more it would have been uncomfortably crowded.  I can't imagine how the place could hold 200 people, regardless of what the bartender said!  But where many bands might have been discouraged or might have given half-effort performances given the small crowd, both One-Eyed Doll and Peelander-Z gave their all and made it a party-like atmosphere.

This was the kind of show that reminds me why I'm willing to travel to see a show in a tiny venue two hours away from home.  You can see a thousand and one wanna-be arena-rock bands who charge exorbitant ticket prices, tell everyone to "put your hands in the air," ask if you're "ready to rock," and run off the stage and hide in their dressing rooms never actually meeting their fans, much less interacting with them.  You can pay your money and sit in a seat and clap along politely, but for all that you might as well just listen to the CD at home.  But when you leave a show revved up, excited, exhausted, and chattering away about what you've just experienced; when you've actually been a small part of the show itself; when you get the chance to meet and talk with the bands and get the sense that they are just as eager to meet you as you are to meet them; and when you can do all that for a $10 ticket - well, why wouldn't you?

As always, I insist that you go see One-Eyed Doll when they play near you.  I also highly recommend experiencing Peelander-Z.  Easily two of the most fun bands I've seen in a long time.  As always, check the Facebook page for more pics from the show, and if you haven't already, please consider "liking" the page as well.

What Are You Doing This Weekend?

If you live in Philadelphia, PA, Baltimore, MD, or Washington, DC (or close enough to get to any of the three), I am once again going to urge you to go see the most awesome live band you will ever see, One-Eyed Doll!

Tomorrow night (Friday 4/13), they will be in Philadelphia at The Fire on Girard Avenue; Saturday night they'll be in Baltimore at one of my favorite venues to see a show, The Ottobar, and Sunday night they play DC at at DC9.  They are touring with Japanese (via New York) "action comic punk band" Peelander-Z.  Both bands are big on audience participation, so this should be a fun series of shows.

I really wanted to try to pull the triple-shot, but it looks like Sunday night in DC is the only show I'm going to get to.  (My old transportation issue again - maybe One-Eyed Doll will be the thing that actually inspires me to learn to drive after all these years...)  But, if you're able to get to any (or all) of the shows, by all means GO!  As I mentioned in my post about their last trip to Baltimore, One-Eyed Doll put on an incredible performance. You will not be disappointed, and at roughly $10 - $12 a night, how can you go wrong?  That's huge entertainment value for your dollar!  And tell Kimberly and Junior that I sent you!

If you go, and you'd like to share your review of the show here on the blog, I'd be pleased to publish a guest post or two.  Let me know either on the comments section here or on the Facebook page!  If you're in DC Sunday night - see you there!

FINALLY!

Yeah, it's pretty much going to surprise no one that I'm about to rave over One-Eyed Doll's performance in Baltimore last night at Ram's Head Live, but that's because I'm a sensible person.  How anyone can see the mighty Austin, TX duo in action and not be blown away is simply incomprehensible!

Was beyond psyched to finally get to see One-Eyed Doll live after months of singing their praises here on the blog, over on my Facebook page, and, frankly, anywhere anyone would listen.  Assiduous readers will recall that shortly after I was introduced to the band they were scheduled to play in Allentown, PA - not too far away from good ol' Lancaster - and I was geared up for that show only to find it cancelled at the last minute.  (Long time friends will recall that I like to use the word "assiduous" whenever I can.  I can be a vocab snob sometimes.)  Of course, as soon as the current tour in support of Orgy was announced and a Baltimore show was added to the itinerary, I knew I would be there come hell or high water!

I've mentioned before that Baltimore is swiftly becoming my favorite town for music.  It's only about an hour and a half each way from where I sit in PA, and this particular venue is easy to get to (pretty much a straight shot down I-83 right into the city) and has an attached parking garage with entrance right to the club door - no waiting in long preshow lines on the street like most clubs!  Heck, the restroom even had an attendant - and after many years of experiencing seriously dodgy if not outright vomitous club bathrooms, it was nice to see a clean one that didn't make me feel like I should burn my shoes after setting foot inside.

The show was originally scheduled to be three bands, with Richmond, VA's Faultline joining One-Eyed Doll and Orgy on the bill.  Had a chance to talk with One-Eyed Doll's drummer Jason Rufus "Junior" Sewell before the show at the merch table, and learned that Faultline would not be there.  Apparently, they have split up the band.  So, it became a two-band show with each band getting a little more stage time. Nice.

Technically the set-up was One-Eyed Doll opening for Orgy, but it felt more like Orgy mopping up after One-Eyed Doll tore the place down!  Kimberly Freeman is simply an unstoppable force.  From her stark good-little-goth-girl look to her gymnastic choreography (how does she kick that high?), she seizes your attention from the moment she steps onstage and never lets you out of her clutches. She tells stories, insists on crowd participation, showers the front rows with mouthfuls of water, stalks around the stage like a lioness protecting her territory, and collapses in apparently complete exhaustion between songs only to quickly rise and begin the process anew.  She is constant motion, leaping the barricade to become one with the crowd, tumbling back onto the stage like a rag doll, literally bending over backwards for her performance at times.  She pulls various hats out of a bag behind her amp, but none of them stay on her head very long: a few seconds of wild hair-whipping headbanging sends each one flying.  Yet through all the fury, her guitar never stops - and when you look past the show, she's a damn good guitarist.

Speaking of damn good, if you can somehow manage to summon the strength to tear your eyes away from Kimberly, you'll notice Junior bashing his drums as though his job is to pound them into the ground like nails in a board.  On this evening, his intensity was such that by the midpoint of their set one of his cymbals was literally cracked halfway though!  While he may not be the visual focal point of the show, he is the constant driver of it's ferocity.  

On this night, they scorched through an excellent set, opening with "Committed" and including "Nudie Bar," "Fight," "Pao!," and "Be My Friend" among others - a good representation of their material and their wicked sense of humor.  The closer was an awesome rendition of "Monster," culminating in Kimberly's running leap across the stage into Junior's drum kit, sending drums, cymbals, and Junior sprawling across the floor.  Always helpful, she then picked Junior up by the throat and drug him to center stage where they took their bow before demanding that we all follow her as she leaped the barricade into the crowd and became our pied piper leading us to the merch table, where she and Junior spent the better part of the next hour or so talking to fans, signing autographs, and taking pictures.  Kimberly and Junior are simply two of the nicest, friendliest people.  They truly seem honored by their fans' adulation, and were more than willing to spend time with each and every person.

Orgy turned out to be better than I expected, especially given the task of having to try to follow One-Eyed Doll.  This tour is Orgy's return after 7 or 8 years of inactivity; in actuality, this version of the band contains only one original member, Jay Gordon, and his newly-assembled troupe of musicians.  Orgy was one of those bands that always somehow flew under my radar in the '90s.  Of course, I knew of their cover of New Order's "Blue Monday," and had heard other tracks here and there, but I never really got into their music for whatever reason.  They sounded good last night, though - a bit like Pretty Hate Machine-era Nine Inch Nails crossed with a slicker-sounding Pop Will Eat Itself.  But even with five band members and an LED light show projected behind them, they didn't produce the same energy that two people with a guitar, drums and a bag of hats had created earlier in the night.  And while Orgy's set has inspired me to go back and learn what I missed the first time around, they ran probably about three songs too long - it all started to sound same-y too me.

Overall, I don't think I could have spent a better twenty bucks for a Sunday night's entertainment.  Now, I want you to listen to me closely:  if One-Eyed Doll plays anywhere near you, you must - MUST - go see them.  Drop whatever else you're doing, change plans, whatever, but you must go.  I promise you will not be disappointed!  I sure wasn't!

As always, more pics from the show will be up on the That's What I Was Going To Say Facebook page later tonight. Stop by and maybe "like" the page while you're there, won't you?

Six Word Sunday

One-Eyed Doll. Baltimore. Tonight. BE THERE!

Why You Need To Be In Baltimore MD Next Sunday

After a rough couple of weeks, The Universe turns around and gives me a truly awesome gift:

ONE-EYED DOLL ARE GOING TO BE IN BALTIMORE NEXT SUNDAY MARCH 11!!!!

After missing out on seeing Kimberly and Junior in Allentown, PA on their last tour due to a cancellation, I get another chance. Here they are in the area again, and you can bet your ass I'll be there! 

One-Eyed Doll will be at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore, opening for Orgy.  It's an all-ages show with doors at 6:30.  Faultline (from my old stomping grounds, Richmond VA!) is also on the bill - 3 bands for only $20!  Can't beat a deal like that with a stick!

What, you don't know One-Eyed Doll? Are living under a rock somewhere?!? For those of you yet unenlightened, here's a video primer on Austin, TX's greatest export:



Make your plans, be there - hope I see you there!

Well Damn...

So, no sooner do I put up a post raving about One-Eyed Doll and being psyched that they would be playing close enough to Lancaster for me to actually go see them, then this news from Kimberly Freeman herself:

Just my luck.  No word yet on why the cancellation, but the date is off of the band's tour dates page.  That's a bummer.  But, check their tour and if they're going to be near you, go see them!  And tell them they need to come to PA!

Since I won't get to see them live, I'm taking this opportunity to post another clip.  "PAO!"

Let's Knife!

Baltimore is quickly surpassing Philly as my favorite destination if I must travel to see a band. Of course, I'd love to see more bands come to Lancaster. Some do, but the trade off we make here in south central PA is that Harrisburg, Philly, Baltimore, New Jersey and - in a pinch - NYC are all within easy access. As a result, the pickin's are pretty good around here when it comes to shows - you've surely gathered that from earlier posts!

Last night I was back in what seems to be the general go-to place in Baltimore, The Ottobar, to see the awesome Shonen Knife, who are currently on their 30th anniversary tour.  What a great night of music it was:  three opening bands plus Shonen Knife, and only ten bucks to get in - wot a bargain!

Now, history dictates that once you go past two opening acts you're getting into questionable territory as far as band quality, especially when all of the openers are local bands.  Baltimore, however, has a pretty decent scene going these days, and in last night's case the rule did not apply.  The openers were great - not a clinker in the lineup!

I admit to going out on a limb saying that about The Degenerettes, who were up first, only because by the time we arrived we really only caught the last two and a half songs of their set - not really enough to make a true assessment, but what we heard was very good.

Plurals

I can say without reservation, however, that the next band, Plurals, were outstanding! With five band members perched on the not-so-roomy Ottobar stage, Plurals blasted out a nifty set of originals and one cover (of sorts): in the midst of their poppy-punky wall of sound, I caught myself realizing I recognized some lyrics but couldn't place them at first.  It took another cycle through the verse before I realized I was hearing the words to The English Beat's "Save It For Later," or at the very least a close approximation.  The one drawback to Plurals' set was that the vocals were mixed a bit too low. Still, this is a band I want to hear more of.  Couldn't find a website for them (with a name like Plurals, Google doesn't help much; searching "Plurals band" leads me to a similarly named trio from Lansing, MI) and their Facebook page is not a band page but rather a regular profile. 

The Quarantines

The final opening act was The Quarantines, an excellent pop-punk trio with a curious tendency to sing about robots.  Their set was loud, rockin' fun, and they were clearly the most polished of the opening acts.  I am kicking my self today for not picking up their record at the merch table last night!  Great stuff.  The Quarantines are a band I think we'll all be hearing more of in the future.

Shonen Knife

A little before 11:00, Shonen Knife hit the stage, opening with an enthusiastic Japanese-language version of Cheap Trick's standard set-opener, "Hello There" (here redone as "Konichiwa").  Over the next forty-five minutes or so, they treated us to a sampling of their best tunes. "Devil House," "ESP," "I Am A Cat," "Super Group," "Redd Kross" and more were greeted with knowing cheers from the crowd, and the girls seemed to be having a blast onstage.  After a searing run-through of "Antonio Baka Guy," Shonen Knife left the stage and left the crowd chanting their name and begging for more.

The Osaka Ramones!

After a few moments they returned, but now they were dressed in leather jackets and jeans.  No longer Shonen Knife, they were now in full character as The Osaka Ramones (a name they played under for a Ramones tribute concert many years back, and also the title of their newest CD in tribute to the Ramones.  Legend has it that Joey Ramone himself would always refer to Shonen Knife as "The Osaka Ramones").  With bassist Ritsuko Taneda playing the Dee Dee Ramone role, counting off each song "1-2-3-4" in quick succession, they ran through "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat On The Brat," "The KKK Took My Baby Away," "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," "I Wanna Be Sedated," and "Pinhead" before closing with "Rock & Roll High School."  All the while, the crowd pogo'd and sang along.  Somewhere, Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee were smiling.

It was a stellar night, start to finish, and I highly recommend seeing any of these bands if you get the chance.  Shonen Knife, of course, was much fun, but it was nice to be so pleasantly surprised by Plurals and The Quarantines as well.  As usual, additional pics will be up on our Facebook page later today.

3 Decades Disappearing in One Night

In lieu of the usual NW4NW post this week, I instead want to share with you my rather enjoyable Saturday night when it felt like 1983 all over again.  Was at Lancaster's infamous Chameleon again for the second time in about a month, this time to see a couple of bands who belong on any sensible roll call of New Wave royalty.  The Psychedelic Furs came to town this weekend, and brought with them opening act The Tom Tom Club.

Thankfully, we did not have any of the issues that marred the enjoyment of the They Might Be Giants show a few weeks ago: not nearly so long a wait to get in, nowhere near as oppressively hot (although The Chameleon still lived up to its "sweatbox" reputation), and no drunken idiots lunging at the stage.  In fact, the first thing we noticed was that a barrier had been set up about two feet in front of the stage, creating a sort of moat between the crowd and the bands.  That Guy's legacy, perhaps?

The crowd also was surprisingly not as large as I expected it might be for two big-name bands.  When Tom Tom Club took the stage, the club was about half-full; by the time The Furs began their set, the place had filled in quite a bit.  Still, I'd be surprised if there were more than 300 people there. It seemed like the show was not well advertised around here - I only heard about it a week before it happened, and many I've talked to since then never heard about it.  Strange.  Made for a nice evening, though: it's refreshing to be able to see a band without being shoved against the stage (or barrier) like a sardine, and since the place wasn't crammed full, the air conditioning could actually occasionally be felt (such as it is - anyone who's ever been in the Chameleon will attest to the terrible ventilation there.) 

Seeing The Tom Tom Club was neat, especially considering nowadays they are about as close as we'll ever get to seeing Talking Heads again.  Tina Weymouth (bass) and Chris Frantz (drums), who founded the band in 1981, led the group through a great opening set that had the crowd dancing and really got the energy going.  Classics like "Man With the 4-Way Hips" and "Wordy Rappinghood" were met with energetic applause and sing-along vocals from the crowd; a pair of songs from their parent band's catalog ("Take Me To The River" and Heads' original "Psycho Killer") were happy surprises. The best reaction, though, was reserved for The Tom Tom Club's biggest splash, "Genius Of Love."  Check out this clip of the performance, taken by YouTube user vwall10411 (and keep your eye out for the band's DJ in the back, wearing the hat that says "BAD."  We were trying to figure out if that was actually David Arquette!)

The Psychedelic Furs are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their incredible Talk Talk Talk LP, but their set didn't focus solely on that album's material.  (For an excellent take on the album and the band, check out this post by Theresa Kereakes at her Punk Turns 30 blog.) It was great to hear "Pretty In Pink" and "All Of This And Nothing," though I would have loved a live version of "Into You Like A Train."  Over the course of roughly an hour, The Furs did a fantastic job of touching on the various eras of their career, and live they sounded like they haven't aged a day or missed a beat.  Richard Butler looked to be having a great time, doing his best Bowie-as-Thin-White-Duke pose and literally bouncing around joyously thanking the crowd after each song.  Brother Tim Butler stalked about the stage in wrap-around shades and bass in hand, playing to the crowd at every turn, and saxophonist Mars Williams simply amazed.  If you had never heard The Psychedelic Furs before, you would have walked away impressed; those of us who have been fans for far too many years to count were overjoyed.  Again thanks to vwall10411, here is a clip of The Furs performing one of their later hits, "The Ghost In You:"



The only complaint any of us had was that the night was over too soon.  The Furs could've played until dawn and not a soul would have left the club - it was a good crowd who loved both bands, sang along and relived happy memories.  For a time, inside that club, it could easily have been 30 years ago.  That, my friends, is the sign of a great show!

The Psychedelic Furs/Tom Tom Club tour runs through October.  Here is a link to the remaining dates - if they are coming within earshot of you, go. You will have a blast.  Pics from Saturday night's show will be up on the Facebook Page shortly.

Oppressive Heat, They Might Be Giants, and That Guy

When I heard that They Might Giants were kicking off their tour in support of their fantastic new album Join Us right here in Lancaster, PA, at The Chameleon, it was simply a given that I would be there.  This was the third time I've seen the two Johns. First time was in 1986 in Richmond, VA, at a nifty little club called Rockitz; second time was here at The Chameleon in 1996, so I was five years overdue this time around.

Here in the Northeast we've been having an ungodly heatwave, coupled with oppressive humidity which combine to make it feel like we're breaking three digits on the thermometer daily; yesterday was no different.  This made waiting for the doors to open - normally an enjoyable process where you get to meet some folks in line, maybe see old friends who haven't been in town since the last show, etc. - a chore to be despised.  The Chameleon's entrance leads into a small cattle-chute area where, depending on whether you already have your ticket or not, you are herded through mazes to either the ticket booth/will-call window or the main door.  This area fills up fast, and then the lines trail out the door and down the block.  Fairly typical club stuff.

On this night, however, the heat and humidity and crowd of people sent the temperature in the cattle-chute area soaring.  We were all quickly drenched with sweat and the place developed a mild high school gym locker room aroma.  Not too worry, though - it was about 5:45 and doors were announced as opening at 6:00.  Right....

6:00 came and people were still piling in.  6:05....6:10....6:15...now people began grumbling.  At 6:20 someone pounded on the club door, which opened just a crack.  When someone yelled "When are you letting us in?!?" the meek reply was only, "Soon," as the door slammed shut again.  They finally let us in just before 6:30, and it was good that they did. Had they waited much longer, they may have seriously had a riot on their hands - people were NOT happy.

Thankfully, the club was air conditioned, and at first felt about 20 degrees cooler.  A couple cold beers helped as well, and the space in front of the stage began to fill.  Before long, the body heat from the growing crowd overtook the A/C, and once again The Chameleon lived up to and beyond the nickname friends and I had given it years ago: The Sweatbox.

All was made right again, however, when TMBG hit the stage and launched into "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head," which not only is one of their classics, but also turned out to be a bit of foreshadowing, as we were actually treated to a puppet show by John & John in the guise of The Avatars of They, two goofy green sock puppets who "covered" TMBG's "Spoiler Alert" (from the new album).

Their set was fantastic, and was a well-balanced diet of material from the new album (including their first-time performance of "When Will You Die?") and fan favorites spanning their 25+ year career ("Doctor Worm," "We're The Replacements," "Birdhouse In Your Soul," etc.)  Flansburgh and Linnell were hilarious as usual in their between-song patter, in turns complaining about the "oppressive lack of oxygen" in the club, musing about appearing on the Jimmy Fallon show with Fran Liebowitz, and wondering aloud whether the crowd would just be randomly screaming at anything they said.  The band sounded great, with only a few missteps here and there (but again, it was the first show of the tour - cut them some slack!).  Marty Beller on drums, who John Flansburgh repeatedly introduced early on, was excellent; Danny Weinkauf and Dan Miller alternated various instruments as did Linnell and Flansburgh, with everyone taking their turn at keyboards ("We're sort of like Genesis - everyone plays keyboards," noted John Linnell).

It seems that every show you go to has a character I have come to refer to as "That Guy."  That Guy is usually there by himself, or maybe one friend.  That Guy is also exponentially drunker than anyone else in the club, but he is not an innocuous drunk.  No, That Guy is an asshole, yet usually oblivious to the fact that he is ruining other people's good times.  Last night, That Guy showed up about two-thirds of the way through the show.  I felt someone bump into me heavily, turned and saw a ratty looking guy with grungy hair, bad tattoos, and a marked inability to stand up straight.  He positioned himself just behind me, and proceeded to randomly yell out song lyrics, curse words, and assorted "yeahs" and "rock ons."  Carrying his beer bottle like a torch and swaying like a madman, he yelled at the band (who mockingly dismissed him) and knocked into anyone around him.  As is usually the case with That Guy, it was only a matter of time before he made his big move.

It came the moment TMBG finished their main set and left the stage.  Suddenly, That Guy threw himself bodily toward the stage, bowling over two young women and yanking a live microphone down on top of himself and others.  Immediately, he was swarmed by people nearest him while others yelled for club security.  Despite having three or four people now holding him, he lunged at the stage again, appearing to try to pull the keyboards down as well.  By now, a very large bouncer was making his way toward the action.  Not to be deterred, That Guy made a final push and grabbed his prize: the set list that John Linnell had been using which was on the keyboard.  In that same moment, the bouncer cinched him into a half-nelson and dragged him out of the crowd to a round of applause.  A moment later, the bouncer returned, and was greeted with more applause, which he shrugged off with a "just doing my job" look on his face.  The applause grew louder when a roadie walked on stage and, with a triumphant flourish, produced the retrieved set list and taped it back onto the keyboard.

The band did three encores, including an outstanding run-through of "Istanbul Not Constantinople," and even noted that That Guy was going to "have one hell of a night ahead of him.  We may not be in New York, but we're from New York," Flansburgh smiled.

All in all, a fantastic show.  Check out our Facebook page later today to see more pics from the show. Head over to Amazon.com via the link below and pick up the new album. If you get a chance to see them on this tour, go - you'll be glad you did.  And let me know if you run into That Guy.

The Go-Go's Go Wild In Hershey PA

[Note: The regular Monday feature, New Wave For The New Week, will return next week.]

It only took me 30 years, but last night I crossed off another from the "Bands I Need To See Live" section of my personal bucket list.  The Go-Go's played at The Hershey Theater in Hershey, PA last night - a show that was a wonderful combination of music, party and nostalgia for the good-ol-days.

My friend Janel and I could not have timed our arrival at the venue much better.  We saw the lines outside, and given the heat and humidity of the day, neither of us were thrilled with the idea of waiting outside. No worries, as it turned out.  No sooner did we take our place in line than the ushers opened doors and let everyone in.  As someone who has attended innumerable shows at innumerable clubs in innumerable towns over the past 25 years, I can tell you, that never happens!  If anything, the doors are going to open late.  It was a sign that a good evening lie ahead.

And yes, I did say "ushers," not "bouncers."  The Hershey Theater is just that - a beautiful old theater with stage, orchestra pit, and tiered seating.  Seating! Again, after years of standing on hard concrete beer-soaked floors crammed sardine-like beyond fire code limits in warehouse-style spaces to see many of my favorite bands, the concept of sitting in plush, upholstered theater seats was a foreign one.  No matter, because The Go-Go's were greeted with an enthusiastic standing ovation when they took the stage and launched into "Vacation;" for the rest of the show, hardly anyone sat down.

I know from live recordings I have heard over the years that, much as I love them, hearing The Go-Go's live is a bit of a gamble.  When they're on, they're awesome, but when they're having an off night they have been known to induce a cringe or two among my circle of friends.  Last night may have only been the second night of the current Ladies Gone Wild Tour, but they were most definitely on! They were energetic and entertaining, and looked like they were having as much fun as the crowd.  Nothing is worse than catching a band on a night when they look and sound like they'd rather be anywhere else but there; The Go-Go's were definitely not one of those bands last night.

Their set relied heavily on their 1981 debut album Beauty And The Beat (naturally, as this year celebrates the 30th anniversary of that LP, now available in a special anniversary reissue), but they pulled some from every album, even giving the single from 1994's Return To The Valley Of The Go-Go's compilation, "The Whole World Lost Its Head," a run-through, as well as Belinda Carlisle's solo hit "Mad About You" and Jane Wiedlin's wonderful collaboration with Sparks, "Cool Places."  Most surprising was a decidedly excellent cover of The Rolling Stones' "Mother's Little Helper."  For their second encore and final song, they went deep into their back catalog to play "Fun With Ropes," which only ever saw release in a roughly recorded version included on Return.  Have to say, getting to see The Go-Go's perform "Our Lips Are Sealed" ranks up there with the best performances of favorite songs I have ever seen. A nice touch:  having never played Hershey before, they dedicated Beauty's "This Town" to Hershey, PA, changing the line "it is so glamorous" to "it is so chocolatey..."

The theater was packed with eager Go-Gos fans and bouncing beach balls, which also kept the energy level high.  We agreed heading in that neither of us could predict what kind of crowd might be showing up. It was fascinating to do a bit of people watching: there were families with kids who couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 bopping along happily with the music; there were folks in our age group, some in full rock-and-roll costume, others as preppy as you could imagine; there was a large older contingent, too.  Everyone knew the songs and sang and clapped along and had a great time, though.

All in all, one of the more fun shows I've been to in awhile, and I sure won't complain about not having to sit through a series of opening bands.  I had hoped to get a chance to get to thank the band for their music and maybe get a record or two signed - who knows when or if they'll be back on the East Coast again! - but that didn't happen.  So, Belinda, Jane, Kathy, Charlotte and Gina - if you're reading this, thank you for the past 30+ years, and thank you for a great time last night in Hershey!

Road Stories: The Zeros in Baltimore 10/30/10

When I wrote up the NW4NW entry for The Zeros a couple weeks ago, I had no idea they were touring - much less that they were actually going to be here on the East Coast for the first time in almost thirty years!  A friend on Facebook sent me a message saying they were going to be in Philadelphia, and would I be interested in going to see them?  Unfortunately, that show turned out to be scheduled for Wednesday night (10/27), and while there was a time that I could do the three-hour round trip to see a band in Philly, get back home at 2:30 AM-ish and still be up and at 'em for work at 7:00 AM the next morning, well...let's just say that was a few years ago.

So I was very psyched to find out that The Zeros would be sticking around this part of the country through the weekend, playing in Baltimore on Saturday and Washington, DC on Sunday.  I found some friends who were up for the Baltimore run, and started putting plans together.

Normally, a show in Baltimore means a visit to The Ottobar on North Howard Street -  a fine place to see a band (I've seen The Vibrators, The Business, and Jello Biafra there among others), but, as my friends and I have long joked, it's in a neighborhood that looks like it came straight off the cover of The Exploited's Troops of Tomorrow LP. According to The Zeros' MySpace page, however, they weren't gong to be at The Ottobar, but rather at a place none of us had heard of, The Golden West Cafe.  Further, the show time was given as 11:00 PM - 11:30 PM.  OK, that was a head-scratcher...a half-hour show that late at night? WTF?

A little more research online uncovered that there would be an opening band, The Fishnet Stalkers, who we had seen before and thought were really good - another plus for the show.  Also, doors were to open at 10:00 PM - another head-scratcher.  What, were the doors gong to open as The Fishnet Stalkers began playing, they do a 15-minute set, then change over for The Zeros to play half an hour and everyone go home?  Things seemed more bizarre when we went to look up the venue - their website, as it turns out, is under construction.  But there was an email address, so I wrote to ask if this show was for real or not.  Hate to drive 1:45 down to Baltimore to find no show.

Neal at The Golden West  was quick to reply: "THIS SHOW IS A GO!" With his invitation extended to come on down and his confirmation that doors were at 10:00 and cover was $10.00, we were still left wondering a few things.  Why so late a start? And only half an hour? Again, WTF?  So I took a chance and wrote a quick note to Javier Escovedo of The Zeros through his Facebook page - and lo and behold he wrote back as well, saying they usually play for at least an hour, and come on down.

So we headed down to Baltimore on Saturday night, having no idea what we were going to find when we got there.  I can tell you this: we all agreed we were so glad we decided to go!

We got into Baltimore around 8:00-ish and found the place.  This was not a club in the midst of Troops-of-Tomorrow-Land, but rather a brightly lit cafe on West 36th Street in a fairly busy little two or three block strip of coffee houses, yoga studios, pizza places, artsy-crafty stores, etc.  In many ways, it reminded me of the neighborhood in which we found The Note in West Chester, PA,  when we saw Gorevette and The Donnas earlier in the year.  We knew we had time to kill, so we walked around looking for a place to eat. Ducked briefly into a little hole-in-the-wall record shop, the name of which escapes me now (didn't find anything to pick up there anyway), and finally found ourselves standing in front of The Golden West itself.  After briefly checking out the menu, we decided we may as well just eat there.

If you are in Baltimore for any reason, The Golden West is a must-visit.  There is a dining room in the front and a bar in the back, and both were pretty full when we walked in (always a good sign).  We were seated quickly, and I immediately knew I liked the place: the menus are housed in old record album covers, and the walls are covered with all sorts of old toys, tchotchkes, and - by our table anyway - paint-by-numbers-kit renderings of The Last Supper.  Everything on the menu is made fresh each day, and I mean EVERYTHING.  We were offered chips and guacamole to start, and out came a plate of homemade potato chips and freshly made guacamole. The choices are healthy and varied: wraps, burgers, burritos, salads, soups - and they offer vegetarian and vegan options if that's your thing as well.  The staff is friendly and welcoming, and take great pride in describing the whole Golden West experience.  I went with the bison burger and sweet-potato fries, which were wonderful.

At about 9:30, the change-over began.  Half of the front dining room would become the "stage" area, and that meant tables had to be broken down and moved and equipment had to be brought in and set up.  Soundproof blankets had to be hung in the store-front windows.  Bands coming in the front door had to be welcomed and attended to. All this had to be done with a full crowd still milling about, and it was all done by, as far as I could see, two people:  one red-headed guy and one brunette girl.  Red seemed to be in charge of the place, but Brunette was simply a whirlwind.  She had brought us our chips, she greeted the bands as they showed up, she was tending bar when we went up for beers later, she was busing tables throughout the night - she was non-stop motion, causing us to joke that she was the only person who actually worked there!

As it turned out, there were two opening bands and a DJ scheduled before The Zeros.  DJ El Suprimo began spinning the records as the changeover continued, and when an early choice was a full side of The Angry Samoans' Back From Samoa LP, I knew we were in for some fun.  Sick Weapons began their set close to 11:00-ish.  I've mentioned before that I tend not to pay close attention to first bands, as the past has taught me that they are often not that good.  Sick Weapons are probably a better band than this show hinted at - musically they were tight, but the sound was too loud and too trebly. As a result, the female lead vocals, which were of the screech-and-holler school anyway, were somewhat distorted and hard to listen to. Eh, maybe I'm just getting old.  They played with enthusiasm and had a supportive crowd, so what do I know?

This was our second time seeing The Fishnet Stalkers, as I mentioned before, and they sounded even crisper and more polished than they had the last time.  It seemed to us that there had been a line-up change (the bass player looked different to me), but I wouldn't bet the house on it.  Nonetheless, their set was fantastic.  Comparisons in style to The Chesterfield Kings or New York Dolls mixed with a dollop of Cheap Trick-ish mugging for the crowd would not be entirely out of place.  Definitely a band to search out and see - and look for bigger things from in the future.

It was almost 12:45 when The Zeros finally took the stage, ripping into a killer version of "Pipeline" to kick off their set.  Over the course of the next hour, they played just about everything you could wish to hear from The Zeros: "Don't Push Me Around," "Handgrenade Heart," "Wild Weekend," "Wimp," "Beat Your Heart Out" and more.  This was almost the full original band, too: Javier Escovedo, Hector Penalosa and Baba Chenelle.  Only Robert Lopez wasn't there - Javier's brother Mario filled in on guitar. ("El Vez is busy with El Vez," as Javier informed the crowd.)

The crowd was small, but very much into the band.  It being Halloween weekend, there were many there in costume, which added to the overall atmosphere of the night.  It was kind of neat to see clowns and zombies and werewolves and Snooki and The Situation bopping along with a crowd of younger kids and old fogies like me, and The Zeros played the kind of rock and roll that you just have to move to. In fact, the brunette who seemed to be doing every job in the place even stopped working long enough to grab a friend and dance along as The Zeros ran through a scorching cover of "Psychotic Reaction" - even on her break she was constant motion!

After an hour The Zeros said goodnight, but the crowd wasn't about to let them go.  So they came back out for a three-song encore of covers including "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and Johnny Thunders' "Chatterbox." Afterward, the band was very gracious in hanging out with the folks who stuck around, both to sign records and just talk.  They seemed pleased that everyone had had such a great time, and really seemed to have fun themselves.

All in all, what began looking like an iffy proposition at best turned out to be one of the best shows I've been to in some time. Who'd ever think that in 2010, I'd get a chance to see The Zeros? My only regret is that I have no pics of the show - so if you are reading this and you were at the Baltimore show Saturday night and have pics, please post 'em on our Facebook Fanpage!